Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Account Executive of the Landscape Group Greg Garcia discuss safety trainings and how the fit into a safety culture.

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Risk Management Center
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www.RanchoMesa.com/landone

Director/Producer/Host: Alyssa Burley

Guest: Greg Garcia

Editor: Lauren Stumpf

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

© Copyright 2022. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa News, brought to you by our safety and risk management network, StudioOne™.

Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Greg Garcia, Account Executive in the Landscape Group with Rancho Mesa. Greg specializes in providing commercial insurance and risk management to lawn and landscape businesses. Today, we’re going to discuss the safety trainings and how the fit into a safety culture. Greg, thank you for joining me.

Greg Garcia: Alyssa, thanks for having me, great to be back in StudioOne™.

AB: There are many tips, ideas, and systems involved in creating a safety culture in the landscape industry.  And, the most common way landscapers implement their safety culture is through regular safety meetings.  For these meetings to be effective, what questions should business owners be asking themselves?

GG: Yeah I feel like there’s three main questions they should be asking. First, what should be discussed during these safety meetings? Second, how often do we really need to be having these meetings? And finally, where can I find content for these meetings?

AB: So, let’s first talk about the actual topics that will be discussed. How should a business owner or safety manager determine the topics they need to cover in these meetings?

GG: The easy answer is we will just talk about an accident that has recently occurred.  Seems like a good approach, but it’s more of a reactive approach than proactive.  Make no mistake about it, it is very important to go over safety regarding a previous incident, and take the necessary steps to help prevent that incident from happening again.  However, a great safety culture includes a more proactive approach by covering safety topics before an incident occurs.  Examples of good topics for safety meetings include something as simple as “Operating a Leaf Blower” to more pressing issues like “Handling Medical Emergencies and Jobsite Injuries.”

AB: Absolutely, and looking at near misses, and job-specific safety is also very important so, how often should companies hold these meetings?

GG: The quick answer is as often as possible, but we recommend weekly safety meetings as they are the best way to create and change culture for the better.  Weekly meetings build consistency.  And, these good habits create a safety first culture by emphasizing safety and showing your employees that their wellbeing is a top priority. Plus, OSHA requires safety meetings at least every ten working days, scheduling them weekly ensures you are meeting that requirement.

AB: Finally, where do you recommend landscapers get the content for these safety meetings? 

GG: Yeah, Rancho Mesa wants to help provide that content for you. So, we publish a weekly landscape specific safety tailgate email. These emails arrive in your inbox every Tuesday and range from proper equipment use like “Avoiding Mower-Related Injuries,” to specific injuries such as “Preventing Heat-Related Illness.”  Our 52-week tailgate topics are not only landscape specific, but they correspond go in line to the seasons, as well.  So, you will not be receiving a topic on Heat Illness in the middle of winter, instead that topic is more likely to come out in the summer months.  These topics are available in English and Spanish and that’s been one of the main positives we’ve gotten back from our clients and prospects that are using these tailgate meetings. These emails are something that our clients are taking full advantage of, and is a great way to take the burden of finding landscape specific safety topics off your plate, every week.

AB: Agreed, and clients can find these 52 topics in the Risk Management Center if they don’t want to wait for the Tuesday email to come out so, how can listeners sign up to get these emails weekly?

GG: We offer these trainings without charge to any landscape company that is interested in receiving them. Listeners can go to ranchomesa.com/landone to sign up.

AB: And, we’ll include a link in the episode notes so listeners can sign up for that. Greg, if listeners have questions about their safety culture, risk management, or their insurance what's the best way to get in touch with you?

GG: Yeah they can call me anytime at (619) 438-6905 or shoot me an email at ggarcia@ranchomesa.com.

AB: Greg, thank you as always for joining me in StudioOne™.

GG: Alyssa, thanks for having me.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. For more information, visit us at RanchoMesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.